Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5032.50 stop 5027.25. Short 5176.00 stop 5181.75.

Monday’s results: The buy at 5004.75 missed filling by 1.25 points and ran 60+ points to the short at 5070.50, which only offered a 6+ point scalp. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) eases from +57 to +43 as the world remains mildly Bullish. Positive note: the UK’s FTSE 100 index hit a record high. 

Catalysts: Services & MFG PMI Flash @ 9:45. New Home Sales & Richmond Fed MFG Index @ 10:00. 2-Year Treasury auction @ 13:01. 40% of the S&P 500 will report earnings this week. 

Quick Tip: Wiggle Room

The strategy that uncovers the turning points in this blog is called Volume Profile. It uses volume at price, not in time, to determine fair value. How traders buy and sell around these high-volume price levels will vary based on their own risk tolerance and other indicators they may use for...

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5184.25 stop 5179.00. Short 5296.25 stop 5300.75.

Friday's Results: No trades triggered. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) gains from -50 to +14 with most major world markets flat or modestly Bullish. 

Catalysts: Nothing on the economic calendar today.  

Quick Tip: Morning Routine

Preparing for your trading day is critical. You should have a routine you follow that includes the following:

Review Market News: Start by scanning major financial news outlets for any overnight developments that could impact the market. This includes economic data releases, geopolitical events, key corporate earnings reports, and news specific to the contracts you trade. 

Check Futures and Overseas Markets: Assess how global markets are performing by checking futures contracts for major indices like the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq. Also, review how overseas markets, particularly in Asia and...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No trade triggered. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5280.00 stop 5274.25. Short 5274.25 stop 5280.00 if price drops below and retraces to entry. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -14 to +21 with most major world markets mildly Bullish.

Catalysts: GDP & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. Chicago PMI @ 9:45. Pending Home Sales & UofM Consumer Sentiment/Inflation Expectations (revised).   

Quick Tip: Expectations 

“What are you struggling with?” was the question I asked a group of traders a while back. One woman said she had “expectation” challenges. She felt she needed to acknowledge that every trade cannot be a home run, or “10 to 1” as she phrased it. 

I respected her self-awareness. Expectations is not a commonly voiced trading...

Results of Friday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No trade triggered in a choppy narrow day. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5242.00 stop 5236.25. Short 5314.50 stop 5320.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) dumps from -14 to -50 with most major world markets Bearish. 

Catalysts: Fed’s Bostic @ 8:25. New Home Sales @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: No Setups?

This blog suggests two potential turning points for the S&P futures. There are many more volume levels that our team uses. But for the past two days price never touched any of our volume levels. 

No problem. Our team has multiple strategies with edge to fill the gap when one isn’t providing setups. There are more reasons to trade multi-strat though: 

1. Diversity. Markets change character. They’re either trending or not, volatile, or not. No single...

Results of Monday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Shorting 5236.75 picked the top of the session and ran for 26.50 points before closing the session +22.50. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5184.25 stop 5179.00. Short 5221.50 stop 2527.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) plummets from +57 to -7 with major world markets mixed on lower volatility. 

Catalysts: Building Permits & Housing Starts @ 8:30. Waiting on FOMC tomorrow.

Quick Tip: Exit On Close

If you traded yesterday’s short suggestion (see chart) and let it ride to the close you had an awesome start to your trading week. 

However, watching that open trade all day would have been difficult given the swings and spikiness of the price action. Just about any trailing stop rule set would have limited your potential. 

There is one great trader I know of who...

Results of Thursday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buying 5238.00 only offered a 3.50-point scalp. Shorting 5233.00 ran for 45 points. Having a good week? 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5220.50 stop 5215.75. Short 5216.50 stop 5221.25 if prices falls below and retraces to entry. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) remains at +25 with most major world markets mildly Bullish with low volatility. 

Catalysts: Empire State MFG Index & Import Prices @ 8:30. Industrial Production @ 9:15. UofM Consumer Sentiment @ 10:00. 

Quick Tip: Contract Selection

Unlike the stock market where you have thousands of stocks to choose from, the futures market has dozens of contracts. Still, diversification is good. The question becomes which contracts should you trade. Here’s a quick look at filtering for...

Results of Wednesday’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No levels suggested. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points (consider wider stops and less size in fast moving markets): 

Buy 5238.00 stop 5232.25. Short 5233.00 stop 5238.75 if prices falls below and retraces to entry. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -13 to +25 with most major world markets mildly Bullish with low volatility. 

Catalysts: PPI, Retail Sales & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. 

Quick Tip: Which Market? 

The word “market” can mean asset class: stock market, commodities market, currency market, etc. 

It can also mean “condition:” trending market, ranging market. 

Your strategy rules should be customized to a market condition. No strategy performs well in all market conditions. 

It’s commonly said that markets trend around 30% of the time. That leaves 70% for range-bound...